January 2009-Medical center ranks as top hospital for nursing

by Andrea McMaster, The Nebraska Medical Center

UNMC’s hospital partner, The Nebraska Medical Center, has been named one of the 2009 ‘Top 100 Hospitals’ for nurses to work for by Nursing Professionals magazine. The Spring 2009 Top 100 Hospitals issue is now available.

The Nebraska Medical Center placed 43 in the ranking and joins a select group of hospitals such as Abbott Northwestern Hospital in Minneapolis, Barnes-Jewish Hospital/Washington University in St. Louis, Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston and the Cleveland Clinic in Cleveland.

“The Nebraska Medical Center appreciates and promotes a strong nursing care delivery model,” said Rosanna Morris, senior vice president and chief nursing officer at The Nebraska Medical Center. “The hospital ensures that nursing has a seat at every table where decisions are made not only organizationally, but particularly those that impact nursing practice and patient care.

“Support, recognition and promotion of the value of the nursing profession at The Nebraska Medical Center is what sets us apart from other organizations.”

Hospitals are selected based on a survey that is sent out to 25,000 randomly selected hospital nurses throughout the country that measures their job satisfaction. The survey featured questions such as, “How well does your hospital manage personal training and development?” and “Is your hospital a family-friendly employer?”

News of The Nebraska Medical Center’s award did not come as a surprise to many nursing staff.

“The thing that impresses me the most about working at the medical center is how much management involves nurses in decisions that affect us,” said Missy Schreiber, a staff nurse in the cancer care area at The Nebraska Medical Center for the past 21 years. “The hospital realizes nurses are the front line to patients and they want us to our job well and to do that, we have to have the right tools and resources.”

Mike Diggins, an emergency department nurse at The Nebraska Medical Center for 23 years, agreed.

“Nurses have a large voice in the hospital and that is supported by management’s open door policy,” Diggins said. “I can talk to my manager or director anytime. They welcome my input and they often will act upon it if they feel it’s valid.”

Diggins, who works three 12-hour weekly shifts, said the opportunity to have a flexible work schedule that fits his needs and allows him to have a balanced family and work life, is another attractive aspect of working at The Nebraska Medical Center.

“The hospital staff support me 100 percent when I’m here, but when my shift is over, I can leave my phone behind and focus on my family,” he said. “We truly have a state-of-the-art facility, so when I’m here, I know I have the equipment, tools and personnel to do my job well and provide exceptional nursing care.”

The support of education and of professional growth has been attractive factors for Schreiber.

“Support, recognition and promotion of the value of the nursing profession at The Nebraska Medical Center is what sets us apart from other organizations.” Rosanna Morris

“I’ve always been encouraged to participate in conferences, certifications and other educational opportunities,” Schreiber said. “The medical center wants nurses to be knowledgeable and current because that directly relates to how we care for our patients and allows us to provide the most current and up-to-date care.”

The working relationship between nurses and doctors is also important, Diggins said.

“The physicians respect our skills and judgment and rely on our input,” he said. “It is very much a team environment.”

A recent testament to nursing satisfaction at The Nebraska Medical Center was the hospitals “60 Nurses in 60 Days” recruitment campaign this past summer, which ended with 90 nurses joining the organization.

“A great majority of these nurses were from the local area and came with previous experience,” Morris said. “One of the greatest outcomes of this campaign, in addition to surpassing the initial goal, was that every one of the new nurses had been internally referred by a medical center employee.

“We are very pleased that our staff has such confidence in this organization to refer individuals that they knew to become a part of our team.”